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Tesla Model S walks 2005 Dodge Viper at the drag strip: Controversial run leaves us with plenty to ponder

January 28, 2013

Fighting through a field jam-packed with electrified contenders such as the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi i-MiEV, the Tesla Model S has just earned the title of fastest production EV through the quarter-mile.

After a day of runs punctuated by a trip or two to the charging station, the Tesla's fastest reported pass was 12.371 seconds at 110.84 mph. While that might not turn many heads in the drag racing community, it was enough to set a record -- certified by the National Electric Drag Racing Association -- for the quickest quarter-mile run by a production electric vehicle.

A video shot during that day also shows the electric sedan beating a 2005 Dodge Viper SRT-10. That's where things get a bit tricky.

The “Tesla Model S beats Dodge Viper SRT-10” headline is sure to grab a lot of attention, as is ours. A Viper of that generation, however, should easily run a quarter-mile in less than 12 seconds with an experienced driver behind the wheel -- so pitching the Tesla Model S as a Viper-slayer is a bit misleading

But that's not what intrigued us about this story. Instead, the related post at dragtimes.com piqued our interest. There, a member of the group responsible for the Tesla run related details of their day at the strip before posing a question:

“After 3 hours the car was fully charged and we made another pass running 12.371 @ 110.84 MPH which was backed up by a few 12.4x passes. We're not sure if the increase in performance is due a full battery or having the car cooled down, comments from electron buffs on this?”

With oodles of torque on tap, electric vehicles offer tremendous performance potential. Clearly, enthusiasts have only just begun to scratch the surface -- and even those responsible for breaking records aren't entirely sure what makes their cars tick or how to optimize performance.

We imagine that internal combustion performance pioneers were left with similar head-scratchers as they discovered and pushed boundaries. If this trend continues, it's only a matter of time before a modified Tesla Model S can beat any supercar on the quarter-mile—assuming its owner can unplug its charger, that is.

Graham Kozak
- Graham Kozak drove a 1951 Packard 200 sedan in high school because he wanted something that would be easy to find in a parking lot. He thinks all the things they're doing with fuel injection and seatbelts these days are pretty nifty too.
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